Once upon a time, a long long time ago, children woke up on Christmas morning, not to find computer games and the latest branded toy - instead they found (and were very grateful for) a simple wooden toy, some nuts, sweets and a satsuma or an orange in their stocking.
The first pleasure of Christmas morning I'm told, was to sit holding your orange in both hands and to take a deep breathe in, inhaling the scent of this wonderful treat.
It’s hard to believe today with all the hysteria and consumerism that surrounds us at Christmas but this used to be a time simply for families to come together and spend time in each others company, eating lovingly prepared food, singing songs and playing games.
Decorating the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve seems to be a tradition that was cherished along with reading the Christmas Story together before bedtime. Then the children would go to bed happy and warm with the promise of a lovely day spent with those they loved tomorrow.
In days gone by presents came wrapped in old newspaper and little girls would tear them open to perhaps find a doll with beautiful curly hair inside.
Little boys might expect to find an wooden train and with this one simple toy children would be absolutely beside themselves with joy, so my grandmother tells me, apparently they’d play with their gift all day long and even take it to bed with them that night... and then they'd care for that toy so well that it would last them all the way until next Christmas!
No comments:
Post a Comment